The curvaceous Olympus Stylus 400 Digital is an exceptionally handsome all-metal camera that combines art, simplicity, and weatherproofing. But although it's easy to use, it offers limited options and controls, and image quality is uneven.

Besides having its lens protected by a gold anodized sliding cover, the Stylus 400 is weatherproofed (but not waterproofed, so don't try dunking it!) with rubber seals over its ports and compartments. Once the cover is off, however, the lens is unprotected. The Stylus 400's limited controls are nicely placed on the back, but because of the weatherproofing, the memory card compartment on the side is hard to pry open. And it doesn't have a speaker or microphone, so movies are silent.

The Stylus 400 has an intuitive menu for its sparse features. You can choose resolution (but not compression level), set white balance and exposure compensation, and select panoramas or one of five program modes, but that's about all. Instead of pressing a playback button to view your photos, you close the lens cover.

Boot and recycle times were faster than average, but image quality was uneven and our test flash shot disappointing. The flash shots were simply unacceptable at distances under 5 feet. On the other hand, daylight shots had good color and detail, a slight cyan cast notwithstanding.

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About the Author

Sally Wiener Grotta is a contributing editor of PC Magazine, a professional photographer, a digital artist, and an early pioneer in computer graphics. She has coauthored several books with Daniel Grotta, including The Illustrated Digital Imaging Dictionary (McGraw-Hill). Her expertise extends to digital cameras, scanners, printers, imaging and illu... See Full Bio

More From Sally Wiener

Daniel Grotta & Sally Wiener Grotta are PC Magazine's Digital Photography Gurus and widely respected experts on imaging and anything to do with pictures in computers. Known for their down-to-earth, easy-to understand approach to fun, creative photography and image editing, the Grottas are the authors of "PC Magazine Guide to Digital Photography" (J... See Full Bio

Olympus Stylus 400 Digital

Olympus Stylus 400 Digital

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